“Nothing.”
I turn to face them and realise I’m alone.
Chapter 38
Voren
“Well, that’s not ideal,” I say, eyes narrowed at the space where she was standing only a second ago. “Who split us up?”
“Good question,” Dreven mutters. “Nyssa? Are you there?”
No response.
“Okay, well. We need to figure out if she is still here, but we can’t hear her, or we have been separated.”
“I’ll try to track her,” I say, reaching out with my senses. The realm hums with residual death, making it harder to isolate one specific mortal thread, but the anchor helps. I can feel her, faint but present, like a candle flame in a cathedral. “She’s here. Just… elsewhere.”
“Elsewhere is a big fucking place,” Dastian mutters.
The anchor between us pulls taut, a physical ache in my chest. I can sense her confusion, her wariness, but not her location. It’s like trying to grab smoke.
“Well?” Dreven asks.
“A thread. She is here, but she can’t seeus or hear us. The same as us with her. We have to find a way to bring us back together.”
“We don’t have fucking time for this!” Dreven’s shadows explode outward. The force of his rage makes the ground tremble beneath my feet.
“Losing your temper won’t help her,” I say, though my control is fraying at the edges. The anchor pulls at me, a constant reminder that she’s out there, alone, in a realm designed to break mortals.
“Then what will?” he snarls, silver eyes blazing with an intensity that would make lesser beings flee.
I close my eyes, focusing on that thread of connection. It’s there, faint but steady, like a heartbeat in the dark. I reach for it with my power, letting the cold seep through the bond. If I can’t see her, maybe I can guide her.
The wraiths here are restless, drawn to the living warmth of her presence. I can feel them circling, curious and hungry. They won’t harm her, but they won’t help her either. The dead are selfish that way.
“She’s moving,” I murmur, tracking the subtle shifts in our connection. “Deeper into the ruins.”
“Towards the crown?” Dastian asks, his chaos magic crackling around his fingertips like trapped lightning.
“Maybe. Or towards something that wants to eat her.” I open my eyes, meeting Dreven’s gaze. “We need to?—”
“—am so pissed, I could kill you all!”
Nyssa suddenly pops back into existence, storming away from us, and then she stops. Breathes in and turns around, eyes narrowed. “Is that you or figments of my imagination?”
“Us, I think,” I say, going to her, cupping her face to make sure she is real and then pulling her close to kiss the top of her head. “Don’t do that again.”
“Me? I was minding my own business when you all disappeared.” She clings to me for a moment, letting her fear seep through before she gathers her strength again and steps back. “River of blood, you say?”
Dreven nods.
“I can’t see it. The tables have flipped. It’s up to you now to lead us somewhere.”
The river of blood flows sluggishly across the stone floor, viscous and dark.
“If Nyssa can’t see it, then we’re operating on different wavelengths, split between layers of reality that shouldn’t exist in the same space,” I say to Dreven. “Gods and mortals.”
“We need to cross it,” Dreven says, with a nod, having come to the same conclusion.
